Loraine Sumner

Item Data

  • Collection Title: Loraine Sumner Collection
  • Item Title: "Family"
  • ID Number: LS-011
  • Date Range: 1955-1975
  • Description: Sumner and her mother held very different views on how a young woman should proceed, but despite these differences she managed to remain at once very close to her family and true to herself through as these clips of team members and lovers attending family weddings and other occasions document.
  • Biographical/Historical Note: See collection level, Biographical/Historical Notes. 1st wedding is that of Diane Sumner, Loraine's sister, in Mattapan, NJ, February 1958 2nd party is Loraine's parents 25th wedding anniversary, Mattapan, NJ, 6-2-1959 3rd wedding is that of Pat Cox McClellan (white dress, scoop neck). Dorchester, MA. Initially they eloped. Their big Catholic family then held a big wedding. Pat Cox played softball with Loraine in the Dominoes in the Boston Leagues. Other players there may include Joan Hamblin (in blue), Maisie (in light blue), Pat Millwood (in green), Joanne Sizeler (blond with glasses in green, smoking), Bobbie Jones (played with South Shore Esquirettes). Marie Fortie in tweed. 3rd wedding is that of Loraine's cousin Donna Campbell & Ralph Nordquist which took place in Sterling, MA, September 2, 1961 (dress with three tiers on the skirt) and groom in a white tux. There maybe one more wedding as well. Yes there is. The last bride is Roberta "Bobby" Jones who played on Sumner's team, the Esquirettes. She was marrying Joe Haggerty. The marriage did not last long, Sumner recalled. She retired to Florida with her partner Jay Khoury, another Esquirette.
  • Genres: Home Movies, Amateur Films
  • Places: Mattapan, NJ; Dorchester, MA; Sterling, MA; Milton, MA; Abington, MA; Tower Day Camp, Sterling, MA
  • Access & Use: Contact Lesbian Home Movie Project (LHMP) info@lesbianhomemovieproject.org. No re-use without permission. LHMP must contact film donor & participants with regard to any re-use.
  • Color or B&W: Color
  • Related Versions: "Family," Loraine Sumner Collection, Lesbian Home Movie Collection (LHMP).
  • Running Time: 34:39
  • Rights: Lesbian Home Movie Project (LHMP) holds all rights. Donor must approve all uses.
  • Sound: Mix
  • Subjects: Lesbians, Single Mothers, Weddings
  • Creators: Loraine Sumner
  • Collaborators & Participants: For further information or if you or friends took part in this event, be great if you emailed us at info@lesbianhomemovieproject.org & let us know. We'll share your input if that's okay, or just preserve it.
  • Source Format: 8mm, Super 8mm
  • Format: 8mm, Super 8mm
  • Viewing Log: Wedding guests on way to church for in snowstorm, February 1958. Children playing in snow. Houses and cars in snow. Wedding reception. 25th wedding anniversary party, Sumner's childhood home on Thacher Street. 3rd wedding Pat Cox McClellan's wedding. Then Cousin Donna Campbell's wedding to Ralph Norquist (in white tux), bridemaids in sherbet orange. The last bride is Roberta "Bobby" Jones who played on Sumner's team, the Esquirettes. She was marrying Joe Haggerty. Kids playing in snow. Baby Debbie in chair? Blond woman with baby on cabin stoop. Women in back yard in summer clothes. Man -- Loraine's dad? -- mixing cement. (Thacher Street house.) Boy with baseball bat. Little girl running. Summer gathering. Men work on house exterior. Indoors at dining table. 17:48 Loraine's daughter Debbie as a baby in a party hat. Two women demonstrate line dance steps in back yard. More friends & family in the backyard at a family gathering -- dancing, eating. Children on swings. Family around the dining table in the home where Loraine Sumner grew up. Toddler on the lap of Loraine's mother (guess). Man gives the boy a beer. He drinks some. Everyone laughs. Christmas tree. Family gathering, maybe back on Thacher Street. Young girl in blue sweater. Debbie showing off large doll. Upside down footage. Woman in dark pink coat is a sister of Sumner's mother. Dapper man in fedora. Girl of maybe nine or so with older girl in spring coats & bonnets (east outfits?) with snow in the background. Child on palomino rocking horse. Guys sitting around outside. Child in chair tied with pink bows. Debbie (?) in red skirt with toys in her hands next to boy on bike. Toddler on trike. Christmas tree. Poinsettia. Summer again. Kids rough-housing. Dog running with bike. Cat. Child hanging clothes on line. 26:50 jackets again. Two girls, two dogs. 26:59 Tower Day Camp? Debbie riding? Tractor. Cows. Lawn tractor. Badminton. debbie with cow on rope? Other kids too. 29:54 LINE DANCING REPEATED - ASK SYLVIA TO EDIT A LITTLE MORE? 31:01 women on dock. In canoe. Sail boat. Duck. maybe Debbie playing with duck. Christmas tree lights. Kids in round pool with adult. Another backyard gathering. Toddler. That aunt of Loraine's who was a killer softball player. 34:39 another guy giving a baby beer. ------ in pool.